Despite numerous political parties fielding Muslim candidates, nine Muslim legislators won the election in the Karnataka assembly elections. Only 7 Muslim candidates from the Congress party were elected in the 2018 elections. However, two more Muslims won in the 2023 elections, increasing the number of Muslim MPs to 9. This is still less than the 16 parliamentarians that made up the greatest representation of Muslims in 1978.
Congress put 15 Muslim candidates on the ballot, compared to 21 and 15 Muslim candidates from Janata Dal (Secular) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), respectively. The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) fielded 11 Muslim candidates.
Here are the winners:
1) Kaneez Fatima:
In the Gulbarga Uttar constituency, Chandrakant Patil of the Bhartiya Janata Party was defeated by the only Muslim woman to win. While her late husband, Qamar Ul Islam, had won the seat in 2013, she won the election in 2018.
Image Source: Kaneez Fatima @Twitter
2) BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan:
The Muslim candidate with the largest victory margin in Bangalore’s Chamrajpet district. He defeated Bhaskar Rao of the BJP.
Image Source: ANI
3) Tanveer Sait:
He defeated S. Satheesh Sandesh Swamy of the BJP to win the Narasimharaja constituency for the sixth time in a row. Sandesh Swamy received 52360 votes, while Sait received 83480.
Image Source: Deccan Herald
4) UT Abdul Khader:
In the Mangalore district, he defeated BJP candidate Sathish Kampala to win. Kumpala received 60429 votes, compared to 83219 votes for Khader.
Image Source: Deccan Herald2
5) NA Haris:
He defeated the BJP’s K Shivakumar to win the Shantinagar seat. Shivakumar received 53905 votes, while Haris received 61030.
Image Source: NA Haris @Twitter
6) Rizwan Arshad:
He won the Shivajinagar by-election when he was elected an MLA for the first time in 2019 by receiving 64913 votes. Chandra N of the BJP, his closest rival, received 41719 votes.
Image Source: Deccan Herald
7) Rahim Khan:
He defeated JDS candidate Suryakanth Nagmarpally to keep his seat in Bidar. Nagmarpally received 58385 votes, while Khan received 69165.
Image Source: Deccan Herald
8) Iqbal Hussain H A:
He was able to defeat JDS heavyweight Nikhil Kumaraswamy in the Ramanagara constituency. Nikhil received 76975 votes, while Hussain received 87690. In addition to being a Kannada movie actor, Nikhil Kumaraswamy’s mother, father, and grandparents were all previous lawmakers from this district.
Image Source: News9Live
9) Asif (Raju) Sait:
In Belgaum Uttar, he received 55939 votes to win the election of 2023. Dr Ravi B. Patil of the BJP received 50898 votes, making him his closest challenger.
Image Source: Asif (Raju) Sait @Twitter
Muslims comprise more than 30% of the electorate in at least 19 of the state’s seats, yet their presence in the assembly has only ever reached double digits four times. Based on their demographic in the state, political activists like Hares Siddiqui contend that Muslims ought to have at least 34 MPs in the assembly. The community has been upset by the small number of Muslim candidates put out by major parties.
Sixteen candidates, including 11 Muslims and five non-Muslims, received tickets. However, SDPI was unable to win any seats in the election. In the Narasimharaja, Pulakeshinagar, and Mangalore constituencies, there were strong expectations that they would be a formidable opponent. Unfortunately, none of their candidates received a sizable number of votes, and they came in a distant third and fourth place in these areas.
Muslims comprise a sizeable portion of the state’s population, but their presence in the legislature is still insufficient, which worries local authorities. To better reflect the diversity of the state’s population, whether political parties will raise the proportion of Muslim candidates in the future remains to be seen.
